SA stroke doctor to give more evidence

The South Australian coroner will take further evidence from a stroke specialist after it was revealed a roster bungle - which may have contributed to the deaths of two patients - had been repeated.

State Coroner Mark Johns is holding an inquest into the deaths of stroke patients Michael John Russell, 60, and Leslie Robert Graham, 81, who died when the Royal Adelaide Hospital's only two Interventional Neuro-Radiology (INR) specialists were on leave at the same time.

Dr Rebecca Scroop and Dr James Taylor were both approved leave in April, 2017, and were unavailable to carry out the procedures.

The surgeries were instead performed by the state's only other accredited INR specialist, Dr Steve Chryssidis, but were not successful.

Earlier in the inquest, former head of radiology Dr Jim Buckley said it had been a mistake for him to sign leave forms that meant the two specialists were away at the same time.

He said when he signed the second specialist's form he did so "inadvertently" and didn't realise her colleague would be away for an overlapping four-day period.

Dr Buckley also said a third full-time specialist had recently been appointed, something that had been recommended some years ago by an internal review.